Cheep Tricks

Hi Friends,

Well, we had a great second meeting. This week we discussed money saving tips and time savers. There was so much to share and even with our extra hour that we tacked on, we still didn't get around to everyone and their ideas! But here are some of the highlights:

Money Saving Tips:

One conclusion we made is that there are different levels and needs and money saving extremes. Some of us have to know where every penny is and has gone and are on an extreme budget. While others want to be responsible with the money that we do have but are not on quite a tight budget. Lori brought a friend who found herself on the very tight budget end once the markets crashed three years ago. She and her family found them selves in desperate need to get creative and thrifty. Some of her advice for us was:

1 coupon shop, she sometimes saved hundreds! 2 keep very close track of all banking statements and bills being automatically withdrawn. (She realized they were sometimes being billed twice a month when they should only be charged once!) 3 Plant a garden, (this has saved them countless dollars on fruits and veggies.) 4 Plan out weekly meals, make your shopping list accordingly and then buy only what is needed for the weeks meals 5 Keep track of all receipts and realize where your money is going. Often when we use credit cards and debit cards, we don't really see just how much we are spending on entertainment, coffee etc. But when we save receipts and add up what we are spending monthly we see where we can actually save. She suggested we check out mint.com. It's a free online service that helps you to budget. Lastly, she kept a three ring binder with all of her billing documents, bank statements, and in front she had a business card holder that held every business card for all the businesses she uses, from the hair salon to the insurance company. Everything was right there in the same place.

Other tips from the rest of us included:

1 Buying produce and meats through co-op's. The less you are in the grocery store, the less you are prone to buy what you didn't go in for! Plus, you are usually buying local and supporting small farms and businesses. 2 Giving your children a clothing allowance so that they learn the value of needs vs. wants and the cost of brand new vs. bargain. 3 Make your own Vanilla Extract, Lori is making her's with Vodka and Vanilla Beans. 4 Hanging your laundry to dry 5 and even making your own laundry soap. Here is one recipe:

Ingredients 5 gal. bucket, 1/2 cup Borax, 1 bar Fels Naptha Soap, 1 cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda.

Directions 1 Grate and melt soap in 4 cups water on stove. Add to other ingredients in bucket. 2 fill bucket with hot water and stir, cover and let sit over night. 3 Stir again, then add to old detergent bottles, pour half way in then add water to top. 4 Shake before each use and use a full cup of detergent in each load.

My money saving tips:

Recently we have found ourselves on a very tight budget. We have gotten somewhat extreme with what we can and cannot spend. First of all, we let family know the situation we are in, and that for family events and birthdays, we just cannot afford normal luxuries such as eating out. That takes away a lot of the awkwardness when these situations arise, everyone knows our budget is limited and our money has to go to food, utilities and the house first, then to other luxuries. Most of our money saving has happened in the food budget, because that is where most of our money was spent. We have never had much to spend on extras, and now what we have is so limited that we have to be very wise with even what food we buy. But actually this has been an adventure for our whole family. The kids get so excited for simple things that they used to take for granted, our diet has improved considerably, and missing out on midnight ice cream snacks is a bummer, but it's helping me get closer to fitting into my skinny jeans!

What we've done: 1 Bake our own bread. I have not bought bread all summer except for hot dog buns for my daughters birthday this weekend. I bought a 50lb bag of whole wheat flour for $25 and I am still using it. I make 2 loaves around twice a week. Imagine what I have saved when bread is $4 a loaf for healthy whole wheat bread. I put salt, honey, yeast, olive oil, water and whole wheat flour in the mix. It's so healthy and yummy. 2 Cloth diapers. I have 2 in diapers and on Craigs List I have found around 30 diapers plus inserts for $160. I bought these over the past year. One diaper can cost between $12-$30 new, but I have found great deals on barely used diapers. I used to spend around $110 every 5-6 weeks on diapers and pull ups. I am saving so much money using cloth, and I am starting to enjoy it. 3 We stopped buying cereal which has limited the milk we need. Now I buy 2 milks to save money; I freeze one and use the other, mostly for cooking and to add to tea. 4 We don't buy juice. 5 We don't buy many snacks, just one box of crackers each shopping trip (costco size box). This is teaching our children portion control. And rather than chips for a snack they grab an apple or carrot; they really do, because that's what we have! 6 Another thing we have done is really simplify our meals. 7 Put baking soda in a sock, tie an knot at the top and pat it on your armpits, it's the best deodorant and costs almost nothing. 8 Lastly, always check Craigs List then the thrift store for everything! Your money goes so much farther.

Time Savers!

Well, we didn't really have time to even get to time savers, but I made a small list.

1 One thing that I've done is to set three laundry baskets in our hall. One is for darks, one for whites and one for lights. The kids put the laundry in the right basket. Every time I walk by a full basket I just grab it, take it down stairs and throw it in the wash. It's so easy and saves time. I don't have to separate laundry and I can see just by walking by which loads need to be done. 2 Once my laundry is folded I set each of my children's piles at their seat at the table. Before every meal or school, they have to take it up and put it away. Laundry clean or dirty doesn't pile up this way. 3 We get all of our chores done before breakfast or right after, but everything is done by 8 am. When it's chore time I turn on Happy Working Song from the movie Enchanted. It's our cue to work quick, and happily! Everyone has at least 2 morning chores. My whole house is dusted, vacuumed, shinned and cleaned and every dish put away by 8 we even sweep the patio every morning. And before breakfast every bed is made and room cleaned. Then we are all ready for school, it feels great to have a clean home to start our day. And I have more time to devote to the kids because I used to be the only one doing all of that, and it took me all day! Hope this is helpful.

Next Week

We decided to finish our conversation next week, but also, with Christmas quickly approaching, we want to get a good head start on making Christmas gifts. So, next Tuesday we are going to learn to crochet. Bring your needle and yarn. If you don't have any people are going to bring the extras that they have. We want to learn how to make some fun Christmas gifts in the next few weeks and then as we draw nearer to Thanksgiving and Christmas we will probably focus on baking some yummy treats!

Now, I am going to try to upload some photos! If you see them, then I figured it out! Otherwise, I will try for next week. Blessings, Kimberly